20 of the Top Retailers Closing Stores in 2017

The contrast is staggering. In a year where Americans were projected to spend over $6 billion shopping online on Cyber Monday, giant retailers — including many famous names — are closing more than 5,000 stores.

To Victoria Setzer, who was shopping Friday at a Sears store in Wayne, New Jersey, the trend is more than a change in preference.

“There is so much history and tradition, it’s a piece of Americana,’’ Setzer told The New York Times.

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“I hope it survives,” she said. “But I don’t know if they can.”

Although Black Friday represents a major day for shoppers to visit stores, the growing dominance of online shopping was shown on Thanksgiving Day with a $2.87 billion surge in online spending, signifying an 18.3 percent jump from last year, according to Adobe.

In light of that, forecasts for Cyber Monday, the traditional day when online deals peak, were looking to top $6.6 billion, which would be a 16.5 percent increase from 2016.

“The holiday season is always important, but this year is more important than ever,” said Robert Schulz, an analyst for the retail sector of Standard & Poors.

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“Department stores are struggling to prove they are still relevant,” he added.

“The holiday is when the brightest light gets shone on your business,” Charlie O’Shea, a retail analyst for the credit agency Moody’s, told USA Today. “If the website isn’t up to snuff … (customers) are not going to shop, and if your stores aren’t looking fresh, they’re going to walk out and they’re going to go somewhere else.”

However, he noted, two giants are setting the pace.

“Amazon and Walmart are battling over market share in many different categories,’’ added O’Shea, who said the turf war is “rippling throughout retail. … There’s a lot of retailers especially during the holiday that are going to have some tough decisions to make on whether they can price that low and if they do, what’s the impact.’’

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For some retail chains, the impact has been that stores have to close.

J.Crew, which at one point had expected to close 20 to 30 stores, announced last week that number had risen to 50.

Sears has closed more than 350 Sears and Kmart stores in 2017, while fellow iconic chain JC Penney is closing 138 stores.

Seventeen other top chains are also facing significant numbers of store closures this year, according to a list compiled by Fox Business.

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Abercrombie & Fitch: 60 stores.

Aerosoles: 88 stores are on the line after a bankruptcy filing.

American Apparel: 110 stores.

BCBG: 118 stores.

Bebe: 168 stores.

The Children’s Place: Hundreds of locations will be closed by 2020, according to Fox.

CVS: 70 stores.

Guess: 60 stores.

Gymboree: 350 stores.

Hhgregg: 220 stores

The Limited: 250 stores.

Macy’s: 68 stores.

Michael Kors: 125 stores.

Payless: 800 stores.

RadioShack: 1,000 stores.

Rue21: 400 stores.

Wet Seal: 171 stores.

Despite the fact that Toys R Us has not yet announced store closings, the retailer is on a watch list because though it said its stores would operate through the 2017 holiday season, what comes next is uncertain.